APPEARANCE: Muddy black pour yields a three finger, foamy, medium tan head with very good retention. Jet black body with slightly higher levels of carbonation. Slowly fades to a full foam cap, then a wisp and ring. A simple ring remains but leaves no lacing down the glass.

SMELL: All the adjuncts are there. Chilies are first, with coffee, vanilla and cacao nibs, showing up in that order. Light roast, sweet cream and milk chocolate notes. Everything is really balanced in the nose. Can't get much better than this really. Bold and wonderful.

TASTE: Really flavorful with vanilla, chocolate and light roasted notes up front. Creamy chocolate and coffee through the middle into a big and lingering finish of bitter chocolate and coffee, sweet milk chocolate, vanilla, sweet cream and some spicy chilies. Chilies are well measured and give a little bite and heat in the aftertaste, but aren't overpowering. Lots of adjuncts but they're all well there and well balanced. Perhaps a touch too much heat lingers, but just great.

PALATE: Medium body and slightly higher carbonation. Creamy smooth on the palate, goes down smooth with a chili scratch at the swallow, finishing slightly mouth-coating. A chili bite and some heat lingers, but still really good.

OVERALL: This is excellent. Could be a touch thicker and a have a touch less carbonation for top marks, I'm really getting nit picky here. Fantastic, and there's no way this is actually 14% ABV either. Easily equal to Mexican Cake, and a tick below Huna. World class in any respect. Thanks again Doodler. Highly recommended.

Proving that there's much more to Prairie Ales than just Saison-nuevo, reaching into their goodie sack of all-things-dark has proven quite successful for the up and comers. Complex flavors from both the base beer and from additions, and then its roasted drinkability allows these guys to look like old pros!

As expected, the beer is black. Just shy of any mirror-like sheen, the beer seems to have a hazy density that's exacerbated by its absolute darkness. But then the beer takes on lightened proportions as a billowing mocha-stained column rises to match the rim of the snifter. Boldly carbonated, the beer easily retains the session with a thick creme of foam and laces with reliable concentric rings with each sip.

Incredibly roasty in aroma, the beer is spot on espresso and roasted walnuts. Sprinkled with a sense of cocoa powder and burnt molasses- the roasted grains are well supported with a more supple and sweeter counterpart. As the alcohols rise, it carries with it a hint of whisky, smoke, charred fruit but no real sign of the chili peppers that's promised.

One sip and it inflates the mouth with dry roastiness. Bitter espresso, cocoa, walnuts and scorched sugars all round into a lighter than expected burnt flavor. Its sweetness is supportive but doesn't steal the show. The middle palate introduces a fruitier tone with alcohol-soaked fruits: cherries, blackcurrant, raisins and a touch of licorice spice become the vehicle for its whisky-type alcohol. Reading into the beer a little, there's a slim fruit-vegetable tone that could be chili, but could also be hop and alcohol.

Undoubtedly full bodied, the ale is both cream-ied up by its expansive carbonation and also lightened by it. The bubbles seem to make the beer float just above the tongue with a semi-arid dryness and powdery roast character. By the time that the carbonation subsides, the sweetness has already faded and the spicy warmth of alcohol and capsacin linger boldly on the throat.

Prairie has absolutely knocked this one out of the park. Each sip delivers a new flavor, a new experience, and new complexion to the beer. I'm happy to see it being considered in the upper echelon of stouts because it rightfully belongs there.

Fellow Craft Brew Review author Nicholas Publicover recommended that I sample this beer since late August, and I’m happy to report finally managed to get my hands on one! Ordinarily I’d shy away from beers that are infused with chili peppers since I had a really bad batch of Terrapin Brewery’s “Guano Loco” not too long ago, and this is definitely a beer that I’d suggest sampling first if possible due to its extremely high price tag (bottles run between $8-10, and the cheapest that I’ve seen a four pack of is $25). So was it worth splurging on? Did it live up to the hype? Let’s see.

Appearance – 95: Bomb! had all of the characteristics that I look for when reviewing an imperial stout: Black in color which remained true when led up against the light, and little to no head when poured (perhaps a tenth of an inch, which almost immediately dissapated).

Aroma – 97: Each time that I took a whiff I detected other notes in the beer, which was unexpected given the chili pepper infusion. True to the description, a rich roasted coffee aroma exists with a definite chocolate overtone. The pepper was noticeable, but unlike the beer’s namesake, I didn’t want to blow off my nose after the first sniff (thankfully). I could also detect the strong ABV right from the get-go.

Body and Texture- 98: I was incredibly impressed with the layering-effect of flavor that took place in my mouth. The body of the beer is medium-heavy, which is about what to expect for an imperial stout. I was worried that the chili peppers would dominate my taste buds from the start and drown out any remaining flavors, but surprisingly that wasn’t the case.

Taste – 99: The first flavor that I detected was smooth vanilla, followed by a coffee/ chocolate mixture and then finally the chili peppers. In every sense of the word, these flavors work to compliment one another and are very well structured. The vanilla bean beginning is just enough to wash away any lingering pepper aftertaste from a prior sip, the coffee/chocolate notes were prevalent and delicious.. and then perhaps my favorite part of the beer (which I never expected to say) was the chili peppers! Unlike “Guano Loco” which had a horrible aftertaste that made my mouth feel like it was on fire, there was just enough pepper in the beer to make it noticeable without being unpleasant or dominating. The roasted coffee and spiciness play well off of one another and mask the massive 13% ABV.

Overall – 98.1 (World-class): I don’t want to say that I went in with low expectations of the beer given my prior chili pepper disappointments.. rather the reviews that I read were so full of praise that I was skeptical that it would live up to the hype. This is my official “I’m eating crow” paragraph. Well done, Prairie Artisan Ales. The smell, look and flavor of this amazing beer is all world-class, and for anyone who enjoys imperial stouts, I can’t recommend grabbing and trying one of these enough. The price point is rather high, but well deserved considering the quality of the beer. I’m not afraid to say that this is the best imperial stout I’ve ever tasted, bar none.

Purchase Value – (C) Enthusiasts who find this beer should expect to dish out between $6.50 -$8.00 for the beer on average (Legacy sold it for $6.25 per beer). This is right about in-line with what I would expect for a “world-class” offering. They are hard to acquire and a bit of a splurge, but well worth “bombing” your wallet for.

T - The taste isn't quite as heavy on the chiles, but it's still quite enjoyable. Roasted malts, vanilla, cocoa, touch of coffee, and extremely well-hidden booze. Some chile spice and peppery notes late on the palate. Quite decadent.

M - Medium-full body, chewy, creamy, and soft texture, with lower carbonation. There's some heat, but I'm guessing it's from the chiles rather than the alcohol.

D - This is awesome stuff. Looking forward to grabbing a few bottles as well as the inevitable barrel-aged version(s). Really impressed and totally up my alley in the chile-stout flavor balance. Might be tough for me to drink mass quantities, but I'd love to try.

I picked up a bottle of Prairie's BOMB! a couple weeks ago for $9.99 at The Lager Mill. I've been wanting to try this beer for a while and now that it's available where I live I knew I needed to try it, but the price is a little off putting, so lets see how it goes. 2015 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a snifter.

A- This label looks good, it's got a nice simple design to it and it's a little eye catching. It poured a dark black color that didn't let any light come through and it had just a thin ring of dark tan head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This is a good looking beer, but I wish it had a little more head and better retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to showed up and they impart a roasted malt, slightly charred, sweet malt and big chocolate aromas with the chocolate sticking out the most and it imparts some nice dark chocolate and milk chocolate like aromas and it goes right into some coffee which is noticeable, but not too overpowering which I like. Up next comes a light alcohol aroma that leads into the malt spices which impart a nice mixture with cinnamon sticking out the most.. This beer has a very nice aroma, it's complex and all the different aspects work well together.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of sweetness with those malts still being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma with the dark chocolate sticking out the most and in the background comes the coffee which shows up just as much as it did in the aroma. Up next a noticeable boozy flavor, it's noticeable, but not overpowering and it's followed by the spices which impart that same mixture of spices that I got in the aroma. On the finish there's some sweet malts with just a little bit of bitterness with a little bit of alcohol coming through in the aftertaste along with chocolate, coffee and spices. and the chili pepper shows up right at the end. This is a very nice tasting beer, all the flavors work well together, but it's a little on the boozy side.

M- Fairly smooth, velvety, a little rich, not too crisp, on the lighter side of being full bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is very nice, but the alcohol could have been hidden a little better.

Overall I thought this was a very nice beer and I thought it was a very nice example of the style, it had everything that I was looking for in the style and no single aspect ever got to be too overpowering while retaining a good amount of complexity. This beer had decent drinkability, one glass is the right amount of me, it might start to get too boozy after more than that. What I like the most about this beer was the complexity and how all the different aspects worked well together. What I liked the least about this beer is the booze, I think it could have been hidden a little better. I would buy this beer again, but only for special occasions since it's pretty pricey and I would recommend it to anyone who likes spices stouts. All in all I really liked this beer and I was a little impressed, I don't think it's world class, but it's pretty damn good. All in all this my new favorite beer from this brewery and it's a very nice example of the style. Great job guys, this is one tasty beer, keep it up.

I don't usually go out of my way to comment on the smell of a beer, but god damn does this beer smell great. The taste is likewise excellent; this is the third Mexican Chocolate-esque imperial stout I've had thus far (the other two being Abraxas and Xocoveza), and it's undoubtedly the best. It has more in common with Xocoveza than Abraxas, both in texture and the emphasis on dark chocolate as opposed to the thinner, more cinnamon-forward Abraxas. Paradoxically, the chocolate notes BOMB! are both richer and less sweet than in Xocoveza, which I like. If only this were distributed to my state and at a comparable price to Stone's offering.

A sublime example of just how layered and complex beer can be. Each flavor -- chocolate, coffee, and spice -- come out clean and direct and strong. Plus it's boozy. Plus it's as black as night. An incredible beer.

Black as the void, with a soapy, chocolate-milkshake-coloured head that dissipates very quickly.

Aromas of wonderful Mexican chocolate, with the cacao up front backed by an appropriately soft but noticeable amount of vanilla and the faintest hint of chili.

Body is thinner than expected -- more along porter lines -- but is robust and extremely complex in flavour and balance. Rolling waves of cacao, vanilla, and chile fight for dominance around the palate, with just the right amount of coffee so that it adds rather than detracts from the complex chocolate characters.

Chocolate and vanilla up front and throughout, with just enough chile and coffee on the finish to add a ton of complexity. Easily one of the best stouts I've had the pleasure of tasting. Thank you, Craig!

This beer is so good it's stupid. The smell is an intoxicating mix of coffee and dark chocolate that hints at the beer's heavy alcohol content. The taste of the coffee is awesome. I can see why the brewer featured the coffee brand on its label. The rich flavors of the beer hide the alcohol taste dangerously well. While it is a gorgeous rich dark espresso color, there was not much of a head on it.

12oz stout-shaped bottle, blue wax sealed, and procured at Tipsy's Liquor World in suburban Denver a few weeks ago.

This beer pours a solid, abysmal black, with only the slightest hints of basal cola edges, and two fingers of puffy, silky, and tightly foamy mocha head, which leaves a large swath of spooky webbed lace around the glass as things sink away.

It smells of bitter dark roast coffee, medium baker's chocolate, earthy vanilla pods, an obfuscated caramel/toffee malt, and some musty, dusty weedy hops. The taste is more bitter cafe-au-lait, tending more to the former, dry powdery cocoa, bready, somewhat grainy caramel malt, a touch of astringent wood, a slight, slowly building red spicy warmth, one which hides any alcohol edge that must be brewing, and a mild green vegetal hoppiness.

The bubbles are quite understated, barely generating a wee frothiness, the body a sturdy medium weight, and mostly smooth, but for a growing spice and alcohol insurgency. It finishes surprisingly off-dry, the sweetness of the malt and cocoa wresting a bit of the floor away from the coffee and spice guests.

Woooweee. One deliciously complex, and well-integrated imperial stout. Not too sweet, not too spicy, and definitely not too boozy (in the external sense, at least), rather, a deft blend of all these things, so much so, that this drinks like a regular, if still coffee and chili infused, dry stout. That said, I did my best to slow down and enjoy this, for I won't be able to get my hands on another bottle anytime soon, and of course, the more obvious reason - the 28-proof alcohol. Again, wow.

Shared this from a 12oz bottle.
Pours dark with a tan head,
Smell immediately reminded me of a damp earthy smell, like edge of a damp wooded area, some one else compared it to a wet grain like smell.
Taste is so loud, all the coffee and cocao nibs explode right to the forefront the vanilla comes creeping in on the tail. Thick and delicious

Aroma is immediately appreciated as soon as the bottle is opened. The smell of a rich, full-bodied stout with subtle but noticible hints of chili.

Appearance is very dark brown in color with thick tan colored head. It settles gradually and leaves lots of spotty lacing on the glass.

Back to that aroma, the smell of roasted malts, roasted chills, coffee, and vanilla all come forward.

Flavor is unique and complex with great balance and depth. Sweetness of chocolate and vanilla come through first followed by the coffee and chilis. The heat is subtle but noticible and it lingers just a bit.

Mouthfeel is creamy smooth, full in body, nicely carbonated, and good balance of flavors. The spiciness is well judged.

Overall an amazing stout. I'm anot usually one for chilis in my beer but this one really hits the mark.

A: Dark as midnight on a new moon eclipse with a deep tan head head does not stick around long

S: heavenly smell of tobacco coffee chocolate

T: like a dark roast with so much depth you hit the coffee and chocolate can still get a nice taste of beer you can still recognize a stout under the multiply layers and maybe a very very small taste of pepper then just a slight heat on the end from the pepper. Nice aftertaste of slight heat and roasted dark coffee super finish. this taste just envelops your tongue and assaults it in the best way so much going on here.

M: Hints of heat moderately viscous a very nice mouthfeel semi coating with some lingering heat from the peppers

O: Blown away just a well rounded fantastic beer smell crushes looks delightful and a taste that goes for miles beg borrow or steal this one is worth it.

Poured into a snifter.
A - Pours very dark with a small tan head.
S - Aroma is coffee and chocolate.
T - Flavor is coffee, cocoa, vanilla and chili peppers - in a perfect mix.
M - Super creamy mouth feel.
O - This stout is nearly perfect. Looks great, smells great, super creamy and perfectly balanced. I did not notice the alcohol. I should have bought more.

This is incredibily smooth & drinkable for such a complex beer. Deft use of chillles really sets this apart from the crowd. Easily my favorite big beer from Prairie, so far... Wanted to wring the bottle out to get every drop. I would love to see a barrel aged version of this, but pretty awesome in its own right

Look: Black, hint of transparency on the edges. Low carb with very little head when poured; dark brown head that faded quickly.
Smell: The chili peppers caught me off guard. Chocolate and slight vanilla are also present once you get past the dominating peppers.
Taste: Glad the pepper isn't as strong as it smells. Predominantly chocolate; cocoa nibs.
Feel: Slightly heavy coating but not bad for an imp stout. The peppers do give a little burn; more pleasing than their aggressive odor. Surprisingly clean finish; not much lingers.
Overall: despite not being thrilled by the use of peppers here (too much) it does all come together In the end. If they could tone down the nose I think this would be better for me.

This is one of those "holy shit" beers.
Pours an extremely dark brown, although not pitch black. Holding it up to the light, a slight red hue shines through on the very bottom.
Smells of sweet chocolate, vanilla, with the chilis barely making an appearance.
Tastes decadent up front with strong chocolate and vanilla notes. The chilis come in on the finish and just balance everything out extremely well.
Can hardly tell this is a 13% beer as it is not extremely thick on the mouth feel, and there is no alcohol burn whatsoever.

Bottom Line...this is one of the best beers i've ever had. If you see it, pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

12 ounce bottle, julian date 16215 stamped on the bottle (June 11, 2015). Served in a Great Lakes snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like coffee, bittersweet and milk chocolate, chile peppers, and roasted malt. I think the taste is mostly like the aroma, but there's also some caramel and vanilla noticeable. I think the coffee, chocolate and roasty flavors are the strongest, but the ancho chile is a nice addition! Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's creamy and coating with moderate carbonation. The 13% ABV is well hidden, it sure doesn't seem like I'm drinking something that strong. I thought this was pretty good, I'll have to buy some more the next time I see it! $8.99 a bottle.

A: Less than half a finger of slightly lopsided, brown head. Decent lacing and sheeting; both hold quite well. Black in the glass; very dark brown in the dimple. Very slight inkiness.

S: Up front, smells like a soft, yet very deep, coffee. Very fresh beans. Some definite dry cocoa nibs. Subtle vanilla. Slight chili pepper edge. Very faint char note. The scents are well controlled, so you have to really look for things other than what's actually added. I think of this as a plus, but others might disagree.

T/MF: Really smooth on the palate. Definite waxy sweetness from the peppers. Bittersweet chocolate and sweet coffee. Not overpoweringly sweet, but the flavors are all of a sweet leaning. Subtle piquancy around the edges. Actually, quite a bit like drinking a less sweet Mexican/Mayan/Aztec hot chocolate. Bitter notes of the chocolate and coffee "bloom" as you swallow. Fairly long finish. Very nice!

This is the best beer I have ever had. I have been scanning these forums for reviews for a couple years, but finally i had to create an account, just to rate this one. What a monster. And super smooth for the alcohol content. Wow wow wow! Will be buying this again for years to come!